At present, I do not have a thesis project selected, however I am presently completing my first graduate rotation in a developmental biology lab. The lab focuses on the study of signal transduction and transcriptional mechanisms that pattern the vertebrate embryo. My interest is the expression of genes that guide germ layer formation fate: the transcription regulation of gene expression in early embryonic development and molecular mechanisms of pattern formation. I have always wondered how an organism can arise from an individual cell and find the different processes fascinating. The regulation of gene expression and transcription factors involved in germ layer formation, the initial step in the generation of the diverse cell types of the adult organism are areas I would like to learn more about. The different techniques used in these studies are also very appealing to me. Some of these include microarray screening, DNA-binding assays, microinjection, microsurgery, in-situ hybridization, antisense and dominant negative inhibition of gene function, and transgenics.